Why Zeus Hates My Guts
by Phoebe-and-Tabbatha.com
Summary: It's not me fault Zeus has a problem with who my mom is. And I didn't mean to kill his eagle, it was just self defense! And now what do I have to do to gain dear olf Zeus's forgiveness? Get him his eagle back? How the Hades do you expect me to do that?
1. Chapter 1

(Written by Phoebe, thus in Pheobe's POV)

I screamed, terrified. There was no sound in response, not even an echo. My 6-year-old mind was working rapidly, trying to find a way out of here. I ran into the closet, hoping that the monster wouldn't look there. That was where I found another girl. She had blonde, should-length hair, and upturned nose, and other elvish features. "Help," I said.

The girl hugged her knees to her chest. She was my age, and equally terrified. My mind began to wonder, like it always did. "I'm Phoebe," I said.

The blonde girl looked up. "Tabbatha," she said, not leaving her fetal position.

We sat in darkness for two minutes, holding our breath. There was no sound outside, so maybe the monster was gone. I should've stayed there for about another hour, but by now I really had to pee. Darn my addiction to kool-aid. I stood up and reached up for the knob on the door. It was really high up, and my fingers could barely reach it. Pushing my raven black hair out of my face, I reached up again and grabbed it.

Tabbatha looked at me. "What are you doing?" she asked fearfully.

I gave her a serious look. "I gotta go potty."

Tabbatha stood up. "Don't leave me here alone!"

"Okay," I said. "Come with me!"

Tabbatha looked exasperated. "Fine!"

I turned the knob and came face to face with a giant snake thing. I squealed in terror as it lunged towards me.

"Phoebe!" cried Tabbatha. She did something that was so stupid I could not believe it. She jumped onto the snakes back.

It hissed and bucked like a bull. Tabbatha laughed, enjoying the ride. I reached behind me and blindly grabbed a broom from the closet, and then I charged. The broom handle went right into the things eye. It went blind and wailed. Tossing it's head around. Tabbatha flew off, screaming. She landed on her back on the concrete floor, and began to cry. Oh yeah, why didn't I think of that. I sat down and cried too. The snake snickered and began to slither towards me, when there was a war cry from around the corner.

Three kids ran in with scary looking knives. There was a blonde teenager that looked a lot like Tabbatha, with elvish features, a scary-looking girl that looked a lot like a model I had seen on TV, except she had black-eyeliner and a lot of chain necklaces and bracelets. There was also a girl that looked about our age, maybe older. She had gray eyes and blonde hair, but she wasn't helping the other two fight.

She ran over to Tabbatha and looked sympathetic. She helped her up and gave her a hug. Through my tears, I saw her run to me with Tabbatha behind her. Tabbatha and the blonde girl each grabbed one of my hand and helped me up. "Come on," said the blond girl, pulling me and Tabbatha behind a corner.

We got out of sight of the monster and could not see how the fight was going. The blonde girl smiled at us, and we could see she had lost her two front teeth. "I'm Annabeth," she said, enojoying the company of someone her age.

"Why was that monster chasing us?" I asked. Tabbatha peeked around the corner, then turned back to us.

"I don't know," Annabeth admitted. "We just know that there's something special about us. We have something in common."

Just as she said that, the other two kids rounded the corner, proudly sheathing their knives. "Well that was fun," said the blonde boy.

The scary girl eyes Tabbatha and I. "Who are you?" she asked, kneeling down to come face to face with us.

"I'm Phoebe," I said, my eyes big.

"I'm Tabbatha," said Tabbatha smiling.

"Well," said the boy, also kneeling down, "I'm Luke, and this is Thalia and Annabeth."

Annabeth nodded, her hair bouncing on her shoulders.

Thalia stood up. "We'd better go," she said, shouldering her backpack.

Annabeth frowned, "But Thalia, we just got here."

"Annabeth, we can't stay in a place too long, monsters can and will come."

Annabeth sniffled. She turned to us "Bye," she said.

"Bye," said Tabbatha and I in Unision.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

I sat up fast in my sleeping bag. Darn, why did I remember that day so much. I always dream about that day that I was first attacked 6 years ago.

Everyone in the Hermes cabin around me woke up. "Ah, what is it now," said Connor, standing to get the door.

When sunlight poured in, my eyes had to readjust. First I saw a silhouette, then I made it out as a girl, then she was a girl with blonde hair, then she was… Tabbatha.

Everyone in the cabin gave Tabbatha a death glare.

"Tabbatha!" said Travis, joining his brother. "How many times do we have to tell you, you don't have to knock to get into your own cabin!"

"Well," said Tabbatha, eating a Boston cream donut, "I just thought you'd like to know that breakfast us starting!"

"Ugh," said another Hermes kid standing up. Everyone followed his lead, and we all made a mad scram for the cabin bathroom, because nobody wanted to be spotted in their PJ's making their way to the bathroom house.

Darn, I was last in line. Tabbatha, who was already dresses, came to me and smiled. "Oh, right," I said, remembering our plan. We helped each other a lot. I climbed into a giant laundry bag which was used to carry clothes back and forth from the laundry room. After making sure it was empty and getting in, I started potato sack jumping to a laundry wheelie cart and lied down on top of it. Tabbatha wheeled the cart out of the cabin, whistling as though this were just another laundry run. About five feet away from the Laundromat door, she made a hairpin turn and flew towards the bathroom.

Naturally, she crashed into the PULL door, thinking it was a PUSH one because of her dyslexia and laziness to try to rearrange the letter in her head. The bag flew to the ground. Just my luck! It landed at the feet of a cute Apollo guy. At least I think he was cute from what I could see out of a small hole in the bag.

"Doing laundry?" he asked Tabbatha, hoisting the bag I was in on his shoulder.

"Umm," said Tabbatha, "Sure. I just need to make a quick stop in the bathroom."

"Oh," he said. "Well I can take this to the laundry room for you so it can be waiting for you when you get there."

"Oh,"he said. "Are you sure? You shouldn't be carrying a heavy load like this around."

I had to bite my tongue to keep from popping up in an angry rage and shout, "HEAVY LOAD!?"

"Really," said Tabbatha, "I'm fine."

The guy shrugged. "Okay," he said, and dropped the bag.

I squealed in pain, landing on my shoulder. "What was that?" asked the Apollo guy.

"Mice," said Tabbatha matter-of-factly.

The guy shrugged once more and went into the guy's bathroom. Tabbatha sighed in relief and rolled me into the girl's room, where I emerged from the bag. "Intersting experience, "I noted, crawling into a stall.

"We would've gotten punished for misuse of laundry bags, _again_, if that guy found out," said Tabbatha checking her hair.

"Yeah," I agreed. "We can thank Hermes for giving you such a great ability to lie."

"Mmhmm," said Tabbatha, "And we can thank whoever your mom is for giving you sch great ability to hide."

That was the thing, I was undetermined, but I was determined to get determined some time soon. I walked out of the stall when I was dresses, and Tabbatha and I made our way to the pavilion like any other day. Too bad I didn't know that this would be the biggest day of my life.


	2. A sign from the heavens tried to kill me

We strolled to the dining pavilion, past a group of satyrs having a meeting concerning wild places and "The Great God Pan". I didn't care much, but Tabbatha eyed them suspiciously. I didn't understand why until I noticed what the goat people were holding: coffee.

Tabbatha is a coffee addict. She sneaks out of the camp borders once a week to stack up on coffee beans and visit Starbucks. I was sure she was about to karate chop the satyr when I pulled her away. "No," I told her, flicking her on the nose.

Tabbatha rolled her eyes. "What, can you, like, see the future?"

"Yes," I said, getting into yoga postion and holding out my hands. "I see you getting high on coffee in the near future."

"Some psychic you are," she scoffed. "I do that every day."

"Whatever," I said, standing up. "Come on, I need food unless you want me to suck your blood."

"Oh," she said, "Now you're Edward Cullen."

"No," I said, "Everyone knows that he only drinks the blood of cows!"

"Pssh," answered Tabbatha with a dimissive wave of her had. "Whatever."

I shook my head and started going to the dining pavillion, dreaming of a muffin that I would have for breakfast. Tabbatha looked ike she needed her morningly dose of coffee, and believe me, things get bad when Tabbatha doesn't have coffee. We sat down amongst the mix of kids.

Most of the Hermes kids were blonde, some had brown hair, but I was the only one with black hair. I only knew of Demeter kids who had raven black hair like mine, but I knew for a fact I was not a child of Demeter. I can't actually grow flowers with a lazy wave of my hand. I felt so out of place, and I was crossing my fingers in hope that I wasn't a child of a minor god. How embarrassing that would be! Tabbatha had it easy; she was claimed two weeks after we got here.

Hermes got to go to the buffet table first because we won capture the flag last night, thanks to Tabbatha. She had gotten the flag across the line by sticking git on an arrow and shooting into my helmet, which, I might add, caused alot of blood and tears, but nothing serious. She had hit it in the least damaging place. If it had been anyone else shooting the arrow, even and Apollo kid, I would've protested, but Tabbatha had the best aim that anyone had ever seen. It was strange, because I ahd never seen any child of Hermes so good with a bow and arrow. I have a messed up friend.

Tabbatha snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Earth to Phoebe. Come in Phoebe," she said with her hand over her mouth.

"Whoops," I said, looking around. "Sorry, I was having a flashback."

Tabbatha shook her head as if I were hopeless, than made her way to the fire. I quickly loaded my plate up with A chocolate chip muffin and choclate chip waffles, and a glass of chocolate milk. I'm a chocolate addict, in case you didn't notice.

I quickly stumbled next to Tabbatha as she sacrficed half her breakfast into the fire. "Hi dad," she said. Just her saying that made me sad, because I wanted to talk to my mom. Whoever she was.

When I was in front of the fire, I was tearing up. I want my mom, so I made a larger sacrfice than usual. "Please," I whispered, "Whoever you are. Give me a sign, mom. Let me know you're there."

I got what I asked for, but I never expected it to happen. Down from the heavens swooped an eagle. It was a golden eagle with shimmering bronze feathers. All movement on the pavillion stopped. This was the eagle of Zeus.

Everyone was staring at it, but the thing zeroed in on me. It screeched and dove. I, of course, was frozen... until it smashed into my head and tried to rip out my eyes. That made me realize the horrible truth: This thing was trying to kill me.

I pulled out my sword, and tried to fend it off, but I fell back. My sword skidded away to underneath a table, and I was defenseless. I closed my eyes and hugged my knees to my chest. I was the same scared child that I had been 6 years ago, and I was about to be a child in the underworl, dying at Zeus's hand. No one moved around me... except for Tabbatha.

She pulled out her bow and arrow and shot with deadly accuracy. She had struck the thing in the heart. It went flailing, trying to remove the arrow. That was when I jumped up and grabbed my sword. As it panicked, it flew by me. I shut my eyes and swung. There was anoise the sounded like paper being torn, and then dead silence.

I opened my eyes. Laying at my feet was the large bronze eagle, divided in two. Zeus's symbol of power had been killed. And now, I was enemy #1 of the God of all gods.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxx**

**Tabbatha- Ooh, scary.**

**Phoebe- Cliffhanger. Not good.**

**Tabbatha- We'll update, but you gotta give us something in return.**

**Phoebe- So move you're mouse down.**

**Tabbatha- And now go to the left, to the left, to the left, to the left.**

**Phoebe- To the right, to the right, to the right, to the right.**

**Tabbatha- FREESTYLE**

**Both- (Random dancing)**


	3. Parents Day at Camp

I dropped my sword and turned around. All eyes were on me, but I didn't want to let them see my cry. I ran straight to the forest, but I still couldn't escape the eyes. The nymphs were watching me in shock. The news had travelled fast.

Finally, I came upon a clearing. I kneeled down and hugged a rock, crying. Zeus, the most powerful god of all, had just tried to kill me. And to make matters worse, I didn't even know what it meant. My mom apparently didn't try to help me out of this. Why? She was ignoring me, as if she didn't want me? Why? I was confused. I just sat there and cried.

Then something clasped my shoulder. It made me feel calm, and at peace. I sighed and turned around. Behind me was a woman with Raven Black hair. She had on a long white gown and a necklace with a heart on it. On her hand was a wedding ring, but it had two words engraved on it. It read "Yours Forever". Standing behind her was a brilliantly colored peacock with flashes of green and blue all along its tail.

"Phoebe," she whispered, her voice shaking. She embraced me in a hug, sending a blast of tranquility through my body.

"Mom," I said, tearing up. We hugged for a long time, not saying anything. Then she pulled away.

"I'm so sorry," she said, "I tried to keep you a secret and not bring any attention to you, but you are a spitting image of me, and when you made that enormous sacrifice, it caught Zeus's attention quickly. He was outraged with me, the way I had felt for years whenever I caught him with another woman. I decided to get back at him for all of those years, but I never thought I would be hurting you. I never thought Zeus would try to… kill you."

I instantly felt bad. So that was all I was? A prank? Some revenge used to get back at Zeus. It wasn't until now that I realized who my mother was. I was Phoebe, daughter of Hera. Hera. Hera, Queen of the skies. Hera, goddess of marriage. Hera. The name repeated itself in my mind over and over.

There was a rustle in the bushes behind me. I turned to see Tabbatha emerging. Tabbatha and… someone else. Someone who looked a lot like her. Hermes.

"Wonderful weather we're having, isn't it." He remarked casually.

Tabbatha came over to me and embraced me in a hug. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

I nodded contently. That was when Tabbatha seemed to notice Hera for the first time. Astonished, she fell to her knees and bowed. She looked up at me, probably about to warn me to do the same, when her face went blank. Her eyes darted from me, to Hera, and then back to me. She stood up, and with a shaky breath she said "You're…"

I nodded again, feeling lightheaded. My mom seemed to sense it. She grabbed my shoulder and sat me down. "Phoebe," she said, looking serious, "You and Tabbatha are in an enormous amount of trouble. Zeus is angry. He won't even look at me. You must understand that Zeus is nothing without his eagle. He will stop at nothing to kill you now that you've done that."

"Well, can't I just make it up to him?" I asked, scooting closer to Tabbatha. I was that scared little child again.

"Not unless you can get his eagle back," she said, letting out a small laugh, but then seemed to realize what she had just said. She could tell what I was thinking. "No," she ordered.

"What?" I asked, holding up my arms defensively.

"I am ordering you not to. It's too dangerous."

"Aww, come on," piped in Hermes, "Let the kids have some fun."

Hera shot Hermes a death glare. "What!? They will not under any circumstances—"

"Fine," said Hermes, holding up his hands the same way I did. Wow, my mom really is scary.

Hermes got a look that I had seen a thousand times before on Tabbatha, and It could've only meant one thing: trouble. "They'll stay here, train, and fight off those every day attacks from Zeus. No biggie." He looked at Tabbatha, smiled, and then flew away on his flying shoes.

"Where are you going!?" asked my mom. "I'm not finished with you, young man!" She disappeared in a flash of light, but just before she was fully gone, she turned to me, and waved. "I love you," she shouted, fighting to have me hear just as she turned away. I heard. She was loud enough, but still, there was no echo.


	4. The Aftermath

We raced back to camp, not saying anything. I was fighting back tears, and Tabbatha looked worried sick. Trees scooted out of our way, as if not wanting to get anywhere near us.

Chiron met us as soon as we got out of the forest. "I just talked to Zeus," he said, his eyes dangerous. "He is outraged."

I bit my lip, hating all of this attention. People were staring at us. Most were looking at me, though. People whispered and pointed. I didn't want to meet there eyes, or show them that I noticed. I knew that they were saying things like "Look, it's that freak daughter of Hera. My money says she'll be gone by next week."

I hung my head. I was so upset and embarrassed that I could've melted on the spot.

"I suppose a cabin change is in order," said Chiron, trying to sound happy. I knew better than to fall for that. Chiron told me to go get my stuff, and then meet him at Cabin 2.

Tabbatha and I trudged off, right into the clutches of gossip. We were stopped up by Silena. "Oh my gosh," she said, looking at me. "You will not believe what I just heard. Juniper told Grover, who told Percy, who told Annabeth, who told Albert, who told Clarrisse, who told Chris, who mentioned it to Belle, who texted it to me…" she took a breath, "That you just got claimed by Hera!"

"Umm," I said, "Yeah, pretty much."

Tabbatha shrugged, "That's pretty much it."

"Oh my gosh," said Silena again, and ran into her cabin.

Tabbatha and I looked at eachother and made a mad dash for out cabin. We got less-than-welcoming stares from our cabin mates, who had already packed my stuff. "Umm," I said, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," said Connor. There was silence for a moment, and then he added, "Seriously, don't mention it, like, to anyone."

Tabbatha put her hand on my back as if to comfort me. I just tightened my jaw and turned to leave. "Hey," said Tabbatha, "You can't let them talk to you like that."

"Why not," I said, sniffling."Let's not forget, I am a freakshow."

"Oh," she said, "Pull yourself together. You know your better than that."

"Well," I sighed, "I used to be."

We stopped in front of cabin 2. Tabbatha gave me a hard glare. "Phoebe," she said, "I'm not going to let a bunch of jerks bring you down like that. You're Phoebe, the girl that can do anything. You're Phoebe, my best friend."

"I'm Phoebe, the one marked for death," I said casually.

"Pull yourself together," said Tabbatha.

Chiron trotted up to us. He looked stressed, but smiled anyway. He pulled a key out of his saddle bag. "I never thought I'd be using this," he said. I sniffed. Tabbath bit her lip. Chiron opened the door.

Inside were a row ofbeds with silk, turquoise sheets. There were pictures of peacocks carved into the wall, and a wedding photo of Zeus and Hera in the back.

Tabbatha and I walk in, pulling my duffle bags behind me. Chiron, who was to big to fit in, handed me the key and trotted off.

"It's… interesting," Tabbatha noted. She took out a small jewlry box from my duffle bag and set it on a vanity.

I just shook my head as I put my clothes in a drawer and my pet frog on a table. Tabbatha came over to me and said, "I know you, Tabbatha. You can make this place work for you."

"Maybe," I shrugged. A conch horn sounded in the distance, which meant lunch.

"Come on," said Tabbatha, trudging out the door. "Things'll get better."

"I hope so," said, following her to the dining pavillion. Cautiously I looked over my should in case Zeus wanted to give me a surprise. Nothing.

Is this the way I would live the rest of my life? In fear of Zeus murdering me? No, I was going to do something.

And I did.


	5. Tabbatha Scores a Porsche

The very next night, I was laying in my bed staring at the ceiling. I was never going to get to sleep at this rate.

There was a soft knock at my door. It was so soft, that I had to pause and wonder of I was just hearing things. Then it came again, only louder.

I got up and cautiously opened the door. Two people were outside. Tabbatha and Hermes.

"Nice to see you again," said Hermes, walking in. Tabbatha followed her dad in, checking behind her shoulder to make sure no cleaning Harpies saw her.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, "It's after curfew."

"There's never a curfew for a god," said Hermes, smiling. He sat down on a chair and said, "We have important business to discuss."

Tabbatha and I could already tell what was coming, but didn't want to interrupt Hermes speech. "As you know, Zeus is plotting to kill you both," he announced. "The only way to stop him is to retrieve his eagle."

"So we go to the Underworld?" asked Tabbatha.

Hermes nodded. "You'll be going there either way. Best that you do it while you're alive."

"True," I agreed, nodding.

Hermes took out a bag of ambrosia and helped himself to a slice before continuing. "I can help you," he said through bites of ambrosia. "I can't take you there, but I can get you some transportation."

Tabbatha and I looked at each other, showing a hint of a smile. Hermes tossed Tabbatha small box that jingled. She opened it and smiled. "No way," she said, pulling out a key ring with a key on it.

"Yes way," said Hermes, opening the curtain. Outside was one super sweet godly car. "Sorry I forgot your 16th birthday, Tabbatha. Will this make it up?"

"Will it ever!" said Tabbatha, rushing to the window. It was a red Porsche, and about the coolest car I had ever seen. "The headlights have built in bullets," said Hermes, "and it has cup holders!"

Tabbatha and I began to scream like… well, like a teenage girl and her best friend who just got a Porsche.

Tabbatha hugged her dad. "Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you!"

"Whoa," said a voice from the front door that made us freeze. "My daughter is not riding in that… that thing!"  
I turned to see my mom, looking really concerned. "Hermes," she said, "Why did you visit these girls?"

"Well," aid Hermes, putting on a convincing face, "to wish Tabbatha happy birthday, of course."

"Her birthday was three months ago," she said, steaming.

"Which is why I came as soon as I remembered that!" exclaimed Hermes as if that were obvious.

Hera was not amused. She grabbed Hermes by the shirt collar and dragged him over to a corner. "I told you that you were not to provoke these girls. They may not go to the Underworld and that is final."

I grabbed my mom's arm. "Mom," I said uneasily, "I don't want to die. And I don't want to live my life like a scared animal. I have to do this. Zeus's eagle is in the Underworld, and if I don't get it back, Then you'll just have Ares and Hephaestus as kids. You know that."

Hera looked shocked, but not angry. She kneeled down. "You forgot Nemisis," she said. She hugged me. "Phoebe, I don't want you to do this. The Underworld is so hard to survive through. It's nearly impossible."

"But I can try," I said, close to tears. "If I don't, then I'll die anyway."

My mom shook her head, as if unable to believe what she was about to do. "Okay," she said. "But don't do anything dangerous. Just get there and back. Promise me."

I nodded. "I promise," Is said.

Hermes sniffed, as if touched by it all. Tabbatha grabbed my wrist, as if to reassure me.

"Okay," my mom nodded. She began to glow, and she grabbed Hermes by the shoulder.

"Hey," he said, involuntarily glowing. They both disappeared just as we averted our eyes.

Tabbatha looked down at the key ring. On it was a small travel sized flashlight. "Cool," she said, pressing the button.

It didn't light up. Is changed to a faintly glowing bronze color and grew longer. In half a second, it was a long sword. She looked at it, disappointed. "I stink at sword play," she said, fingering the blade. She looked at me. "Tabbatha, why don't you use the sword?"

"Okay," I agreed. Tabbatha put the keys down on the table, next to my pet frog, and crashed in one of the beds across the room.

"Chiron won't be happy about this," I said getting into my bed. Tabbatha began to say something, but fell asleep midsentence. I wasn't much better. I was asleep two minutes later.

I was certain of one thing. The trip we would start tomorrow would be the hardest thing I have ever done.

**/**

**Phoebe- Okay, we don't want to sound desperate…. But**

**Tabbatha- (gets down on knees) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Phoebe- The next 15 reviewers shall be the lucky owners of their own godly Porsches. Hurry, only available while supplies lasts!**

**Tabbatha- And remember, they have cupholders!**


	6. Zeus Sends Me a Playmate

That night, my dream picked up where the last left off.

I ran as fast as my 6-year-old legs could carry me with Tabbatha close behind. Daddy had to be around here… somewhere. The place was deserted, though. I was scared, not knowing what to do. "Tabbatha?" I asked, "How do we get home?"

Tabbatha's lip quivered. "I don't have a home," she said miserably. "I was on a field trip with my orphan school. They probably left by now." Tears streamed down her face.

I sniffed looking around as we got to the main room. There were bodies on the ground, a sight far too gruesome for a 6-year-old. I looked around at the bloody scene. Then I spotted a man with short blonde hair and a suit lying in a pool of red. "Daddy," I whispered. I went running, weeping harder than ever before.

Tabbatha stood there, dazed, staring at the door. I didn't look. My dad wasn't moving, and he had no pulse. I curled up in a ball on the ground and cried. I heard something approaching me on the marble floor, but it didn't sound like footsteps. It sounded like mallets hitting against the ground.

I looked up to see a boy towering over me. He was 6 by the looks of it. His curly brown hair was wet, as if he had just walked out of the rain. His bit his lip and knelt down by me. I sat up to come face to face with him, when I noticed something was wrong with him. His legs were fuzzier than my teddy bear, and he was missing feet. He looked funny.

Tabbatha finally snapped out of her daze and came to us. "Kitty," she decided, petting one of his legs.

The boy smiled a thin smile. "Goat," he corrected her, standing up. He offered me a hand.

I grabbed it and stood, feeling a little wobbly. Daddy still hadn't moved. Maybe he was sleeping. I tried to encourage myself, but it didn't work.

"Come with me," he said, helping us out the door. We went, because we didn't know what else there was to do.

"What's your name?" asked Tabbatha, looking at the boy.

"Shawn," he said, opening the door.

I nodded, soaking it in. "Where are we going, Shawn?" I asked, wiping an eye.

"Somewhere safe, where you'll be cared for," he said as we stepped into the rain.

Something pushed against my shoulder, trying to shake me awake. I lazily opened one eye to see Tabbatha kneeling by my bed. "Hey," I said sleepily.

"Hey yourself," she said, grabbing my arm and trying to pull me out of bed.

"Where's the fire?" I asked sleepily, rolling back into my bed and pulling the covers over my head.

"It's gonna be in your cabin if you don't get up," she said, grabbing my pillow and hitting me with it.

"Whoa!" I said, lifting the hem of my white nightgown up to my knee and waving it. "I surrender!"

"Good," she said, dropping the pillow. She was already dressed in camouflage bandanna, which covered most of her blonde hair that she cut last winter. Now it barely made it down to her ringless earlobes, because she wanted to keep her ears pure and told me I had better do the same or else she would pierce my nose in the night. She had on a light blue shirt with one of those yellow smiley faces, and underneath it were the words 'Just keep on smiling, it confuses people,' and blue jeans that she personally cut with her pocket knife to make tears in the knees. To top it off she had the world's coolest pair of Converse hightops with skulls, crossbones, and a pink background.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and stood up, wishing I could crawl back under the covers and never come out.

"Are we leaving, like, now?" I asked, brushing back my soft black hair that looked a lot like a rat's nest at the moment.

"I think we should get going in maybe half an hour," she Tabbatha, cracking her knuckles before dropping some food into my frog's tank.

"Okay," I said, "I probably should get changed then, right?"

"Unless you want the monsters to die laughing at you in your pajamas," she replied.

"I think I will change," I said, pulling out a yellow T-shirt that said 'Stupid is as stupid does', a pair of black leggings, one led black one leg pink, and a black and pink skirt that just screamed "I wanna punch someone." I reached far underneath the dreeser and grabbed some brown moccasins decorated with beads.

"Nice choice," said Tabbatha, giving me a thumbs up in approval

"It's my questing outfit," I said, walking to the bathroom to change. Let's skip the details of that, shall we?

Five minutes later I walked out like a model, with one hand on my hip and another swinging at my side. Tabbatha sat on a bed and cheered like an over obsessive fan seeing their favorite supermodel.

She smiled, getting up from the bad and said, "So… when do we go? I say now."

I gave her a puppy dog lip. "Aw we gon' have bwekfast?" I asked like a two year, rubbing my stomach.

Tabbatha shrugged. "Might as well," she said. "Our last chance for free food."

That made me stop and think for a moment. "Tabbatha," I said. "How are we gonna pay for ourselves on this quest. You know gas prices have gone so high that only Hades can pay for a whole tank."

Tabbatha thought that over. "That's a problem," she said. Then she brightened up as if she had just gotten a brilliant idea. "But it's Tabbatha to the rescue!" she said, and ran out the door. Great, there went my good old spastic friend.

"Tabbatha!" I whined, running after her. She knew that I suck epically at track, but she was in a world of her own right now, racing to the pavilion.

I slowed down and began walking there at my own pace, figuring I'd just yell at her when I got there. Then I noticed something. There was a long scaly shining rope lying on the ground nect to my foot. It looked like a golden yellow cord.

I wanted to step away from it, but I couldn't. It was luring me in. My fingers were itching to touch it. My breathing became uneven. Then, as if it had a mind of its own, my hand began to reach down. It went slowly. It got closer and closer, until it was three inches away from the rope. I paused, wanting to pull my hand away, but another part of me not wanting to. My hand moved again, growing closer and closer. My fingers were about to touch it when there was a screech behind me.

A peacock ran in, grabbing the cord with its talons. The cord began wiggle from side to side like a worm, and the gold melted off. It became gray, with a rattle at one end and fangs at the other. Long fangs.

I gasped and took two steps back, tripping over a tree root and falling on my back.

The peacock tore at the flesh of the rattlesnake, spilling crimson blood on the green grass. It stopped moving a lay still. The peacock turned to look at me. Respectfully it bowed its head. I reached over to pet the large bird. "Thank you," I whispered, running my fingers through its feathers. It closed its eyes and sat still. Then it disappeared in a puff of turquoise and green smoke, blowing away in the wind.

I heard the pound of feet behind me. "Phoebe," Tabbatha called excitedly. She was waving a leather pouch in the air. "I got Silena's wallet!"

I didn't move. I was shocked by what I had just gone through. Tabbatha ran up, but frowned when she looked into my eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked, deadly serious.

"Zeus just tried to kill me," I whispered, because that was all I could do.

Tabbatha looked horrified. "What happened?" she asked, lowering her voice.

"A… golden rattlesnake… pretty… had to touch it… peacock…" I stammered. Suddenly, I burst into tears and put my head on Tabbatha's shoulder.

Tabbatha dropped the leather pouch immediately and put her arms around me as if to shield me from any further harm. "I'll protect," she said. "I'll give my life for you if I have to."

I sobbed into her shirt, changing the shoulder from light blue to dark blue with my tears.

Tabbatha pulled me up. "We're leaving," she said, helping me to the car. She put me in the passenger seat and pulled out the keys. She was trembling as she stuck them in the igniton. I was shaking violently.

The car started up and we ripped up the hill. I took one more look at the strawberry fields, water, cabins, and forest because I knew that I wouldn't see them for a long time… if not ever again.


	7. We Battle a OneEyed Freak

I shivered, putting my cheek onto the leather upholstery. That must've shown Tabbatha how really upset I was, because normally I would complain that it's cars like these killing off cows and the environment.

"It's okay…" Tabbatha spoke to me as if I were a hurt animal backed up into a corner. She was hardly paying any attention to the road.

"No," I said, sitting up and trying to look fine. "I'm alright. You just worry about the road."

"Tabbatha rolled her eyes. "How impossible are you?"

"Very," I said. I looked in the back, and my mouth dropped open. "No way," I said, forgetting my aftershock for a moment.

"What," asked Tabbatha, looking over her shoulder. The car swerved off of the road and skinned a pine tree.

"Eyes on the road!" I screeched.

"Oh, yeah," said Tabbatha looking back. "But what is it?"

"Your dad packed for us," I said, trying to squirm close enough to grab one of the bags. I caught the strap of a denim blue bag and hulled it forward. "Check it out! A bag of cash, a bag of cookies," I smiled, which must've totally clashed with my puffy red eyes. "Coffee beans."

The car swerved again, as if Tabbatha was already high. "SWEET!" she exclaimed.

I set the bag down in the back seat and stayed silent. Watching in the mirror, I could see my eyes slowly forming back to normal. No more tear stains, no more raw looking skin. Just my face. Finally, I sighed. "Tabbatha?"

"Hmm?" she asked, her nose twitching

"What do you think made me want to… touch the snake?"

Tabbatha was silent a moment. "Well," she finally said. "I've been thinking about that. What did the snake look like?"

"Well, it was gleaming gold at first… and then…" I stopped.

"And then what?" she asked, stealing a glance at me.

"And then the gold melted off when the peacock picked it up."

Tabbatha blinked a couple of time, as if shocked by what I said. "I know what made you touch it," she whispered.

"What?" I asked, leaning forward, but automatically being snapped back by the "extra protection" seatbelts.

"Well, I don't really know how to describe it. It's like… a golden apple of immortality melted down. When it's painted on an object, it's nearly impossible not to touch. Zeus has only used that once before to paint the inside of Pandora's box."

"You mean the box that held the evils of the world's?"

Tabbatha nodded somberly.

"Oh, now I'm having fun," I said sarcastically.

"Hey, things aren't all bad," she said. "I mean there's… no wait that's bad… Ooh Wait! How about the—no, that's not good either."

"Yeah, you're really making me bright and sunny now!" I said, giving her a thumbs up.

Tabbatha stayed silent. I looked out the window, watching the dirt road slowly transform into concrete. "So…" I asked. "Are we going to drive all the way across America?"

"Unless you can fly," said Tabbatha, tinkering with a keychain hanging from the mirror.

"Truck," I sighed monotonously, watching a two-ton truck hurl toward us.

Tabbatha shrieked and swerved again, missing the truck. I looked up, planning to flip off the driver, but stopped. He was looking right back down at me, sneering. But what struck me was that he had one calf-brown eye in the center of his forehead.

I watched him stand up and fling the door open. All I could do was tap Tabbatha on the shoulder. "Yeah?" she asked, but was interrupted by the roof sinking lower. The Cyclops had jumped on top of the car.

Tabbatha screamed and thrust the car to the right, cutting off a taxi with flashing lights. The sunroof shattered, lodging a piece of glass into my arm. I clawed at it, trying to get it out, but I couldn't.

Tabbatha punched the Cyclops, bashing in its nose. "Dahh!" it shouted, trying to grab her head. Instead, Tabbatha bit it in the arm, ripping away a piece of flesh.

"Eew!" she shouted, spitting it out the window. "Don't you ever shower?"

I grabbed the flashlight key chain from off the keys and pressed the button, having it grow longer in my arms. "Eat this!" I shouted, sheering off its ear

It snarled at me, and grabbed me by the throat, lifting me out of the car. I wa kicking in vain, swinging my sword through nothing but air.

It laughed, and brought me towards its mouth. "You're gonna _eat_ me?!" I asked in disbelief. "That is so barbaric."

Instead of eating me, though, it ate something else. Celestial bronze arrows.

Shrieking, I fell through the roof again, landing next to Tabbatha.

"Oh…" I said, rubbing my head. Tabbatha pulled the car into a McDonalds parking lot. My vision went red and fuzzy, feeling the sting of the glass wedged into my arm. The last thing I remembered was Tabbatha coming towards me in seemingly slow motion.

**XXXXXXX**

**Phoebe- And they all lived happily ever after!**

**Tabbatha- Not! You know, there is still stain in my car from that wound.**

**Phoebe- A stain in your car? How about a stain on my skin!**

**Tabbatha- Yeah, well… that too.**

**Phoebe- Well, anyway… IF YOU CARE ABOUT ME AT ALL THEN YOU MUST REVIEW!**

**Tabbatha- And if you don't review you shall be forced to watch Bob the Builder for the rest of your life!**

**Phoebe- And you will crash you Porsche if you got one. **

**Both- (evil laugh)**

**Phoebe- On that happy note, thanks for reading, we'll be sure to update soon.**


	8. A Stalker Offers Us Membership To a Club

I felt the warm cement heated by the sun behind my head. I could feel something painfully cold on my forehead. I could feel the point of the shard of glass jabbing into my arm. But I didn't open my eyes. I was so drained of energy that it felt like opening my eyes was more work than pushing a rock up a mountain for all of eternity.

"Tabbatha," I muttered, trying to turn my head.

Tabbatha sighed. "Phoebe, you scared half to death." She paused for a moment, then said, "No, actually, you scared me three quarters of the way to death. How could you pass out like that?"

"Oh, you know. It's just like falling asleep, only—" something fell into my mouth, stopping me mid-sentence. "What the Hades?" I sputtered, cracking my eyelids a fraction of a centimeter open with great effort.

I saw Tabbatha hovering over me, holding a large white paper cup with crude doodles on it. "McDonalds shake," she said, putting it in my hand. "Chocolate."

"And you bought this, because…?" I asked, pulling to my lips and drinking it slowly.

"Hey," she shrugged. "I had to get something to wake you up."

That made me realize what was so cold on my forehead. "You poured a milkshake on my face to wake me up?" I asked, reaching up to find that the top of my head was really sticky.

"Well, I would've gotten water, but I was in the mood for a milkshake."

I stopped drinking and looked down at the straw. Slowly, I set it down on the pavement.

Tabbatha cracked a smile and pulled me up.

"Thanks for shooting that arrow," I said, once I was sitting up. I scratched at my arm, which I realized was a mistake because my arm became aware it's newly acquired piercing and seemed to catch on fire with pain.

Tabbatha gaze me a confused blonde stare (even though she's not that type of blonde). "I didn't shoot any arrow."

"Then who did?" I asked. I looked around, suddenly getting a feeling that we were being watched.

"I did," said a voice from above us.

I looked up deftly fast, which I immediately regretted, figuring out that my neck wasn't in shape for that.

Above us, a girl was sitting in the crook of a tree. Her hair was Auburn with silver threads braided in. There was a spray of brown freckles across her face. She had this weird silver glow surrounding her, shining the same way that the moon did, which was strange to be seeing in the noontime sunlight.

Tabbatha and I exchanged looks. My look said, "Who the heck is that?" and her look answered with, "I think it's a stalker. We should run."

The girl swung down, landing on her feet like a cat. "I couldn't ignore two girls in need of help."

I didn't quite believe that, because there were A LOT of girls that I knew at camp that weren't helped by this stalker person when they were in trouble; like one that got attacked by a minotaur, or a Cyclops, or two six-year-olds getting attacked by a freakish snake thingie.

The girl smiled offered her hand to us. "I think you might have heard of me. Artemis? Goddess of the hunt?"

"Oh…" said Tabbatha, cocking a brow. "Well that explains that."

"Explains what?" asked Artemis with the same confused blonde look that Tabbatha had.

I shook my head. "Don't question it," I said. "Just smile and nod like you understand what she's talking about."

Artemis nodded. "Right…" she said. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you girls."

"Wow, you're the third god this week to want that," I said, propping up onto my knees.

Tabbatha hit me in the back of the head, which blurred my vision because of this fragile state I was in.

Artemis gave a lopsided smile. "Well, you are the biggest buzz on Olympus since Percy."

"Right," I said. "Isn't he in Zeus's death note, too?"

"Why, yes. Yes he is."

Tabbatha closed her eyes and breathed through her nose. "Anyway…" she said slowly. "What did you want to talk to us about?"

"Well, I know of your quest to retrieve Zeus's eagle, and I know of dad's planning to kill you both."

"Check," I said, clamoring up to my feet, clinging to Tabbatha's shoulder.

"I have an offer for you girls." She smiled. "I'd like to offer you two spots in the huntresses."

Tabbatha's jaw dropped. I just clammed up and froze. Artemis just kept on talking about the reasons why joining is a good choice for us. Neither of us said anything.

Artemis frowned once she finished her advertisement. "What do you say?" she asked, looking worried. I could tell that she was thinking something like 'these two idiots are _not_ about to just give this opportunity, are they?'

I closed my eyes leaning on Tabbatha for support. Something whispered in my ear. It was so hard to depict, but what I heard went something like, "Don't do it."

Was it the wind? I brushed back my hair, trying to hear. Something inside me was screaming at me at the same time. Suddenly, it came to me: I couldn't say yes to this. The blood pumping through my veins, the beating of my heart, and my racing pulse all told me what they wanted. They wanted me to stand there in a white dress at the alter, saying "I do." I looked down, memorizing each speck of dirt beneath my feet. "I can't," I whispered, barely audible to my own ears.

Artemis jerked back, as if slapped. "You… can't?"

Tabbatha seemed to know what to say from there. "We both can't. We have to do this… We killed the eagle together. We ticked Zeus off like Hades together. We have to get that eagle and set things right. We can't just escape our problems by joining the hunt."

Artemis nodded. "I… I understand," she choked. She managed a smile so forced, that she looked like she wanted to stab us both. "That's… alright. It's your… choice." We both knew that instead of saying "choice," she was thinking something a little more along the lines of "funeral."

She began to glow, without so much as a goodbye. We averted our eyes quickly.

The light that Artemis gave off when she disappeared was different from the kind that we felt when Hera or Hermes disappeared. It was more like firelight. It was burning, angry fire. My hair stood on end, and it was like the hairs on my arms singed off. Once she was gone and we were alone, I heard a clatter against the pavement. Looking down, I immediately saw what it was: the shard of glass that was caught in my skin.

"We're idiots, aren't we?" I asked, wiping an eye.

Tabbatha shrugged. "We were idiots ten years ago, and we're still idiots today. Some people can't get over their stupidity, and we're no exception."

I nodded, thinking about it as something that the oracle would say or… Yoda.

"Come on," said Tabbatha, pulling me to the car. "We may be idiots, but we're idiots with a Porsche! That's gotta count for something."

I wished it did count for something. I really wished it did.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Phoebe- We did it!**

**Tabbatha- Tell them what we did!**

**Phoebe- We updated!**

**Tabbatha- This calls for a celebration!**

**(Both look at each other and shrug)**

**Both- Now if she moves like this, will you move it like that, come on! Shake, shake, shake, shake-a, shake it.**

**Shake shake shake shake-a shake it! Shake shake shake shake-a shake it!**

**Both- (Randomly start doing the Macarena)**

**Phoebe- Anyone who reviews will get a free hug from Alvin and the Chipmunks!**

**Tabbatha- No, it should be a free hug from the Teletubbies!**

**Phoebe- (Stares) Why the Teletubbies?**

**Tabbatha- So that you can reach into their pocket and steal their wallet. It must take some really expensive surgery to have a television wired into your stomach.**

**Phoebe- True, very true….**


	9. We Hitch a Ride on the CashCab

"Call me crazy," I said, staring at the empty space in front of me, "But I think you need a car to actually drive."

Tabbatha was freaking out. "I swear! It was here a minute ago."

A flash of light caught my eye, and I turned to the road. "Found it," I said, pointing. A tow truck was exiting the parking lot with Tabbatha's Porsche chained to it.

Tabbatha screamed. "MY CAR!" She ran towards the truck, but it pulled out of the lot and started going 60 mph. A light shimmered on top of her car roof, and then there sat Artemis, smiling and waving.

Tabbatha screamed some very naughty words at the goddess and tried to throw a rock, but sucked epically at baseball.

"Where do we go to get it back?" I asked, coming by Tabbatha's side.

Tabbatha looked around. "I guess one of those yard places where they keep the cars."

"And that would be…" I looked at her expectantly.

"I DON'T KNOW!" cried Tabbatha. "Oh, gods! My car!"

"Umm…" I thought for a second. "We could call a taxi. The driver will probably know where the yard is."

Tabbatha was still trying to get over the fact that her car had gotten towed. "My car!"

"Tabbatha!" I said. She snapped her head towards me. "We're not getting anywhere by just sitting here. We should—"

"I know!" I said Tabbatha, cutting me off. "We could get a taxi. The driver will probably know where the yard is."

"I…" I slapped myself in the forehead. "Gee, why didn't I think of that?" I asked sarcastically.

Tabbatha ran to the edge of the parking lot. "Taxi!" she called, waving her arms frantically.

Racing up behind her, I joined in. "Taxi!" I called along with her. We waited for a moment as a big yellow car pulled in front of us.

"Took you long enough," grumbled Tabbatha, slipping in. I followed in past her. "Where do they take towed cars?" she asked the driver.

I shut the door. For a moment, there was silence. Then, the ceiling began to light up and a show tune started to play.

"Welcome," said the woman driving up front, "To the Cash Cab Demigod Edition!" **(A/N Phoebe- Unfortunately, we don't own the cash cab…)**

Tabbatha and I exchanged glances, and she reached for the door. Usually, things like these ended badly for us. The door wouldn't open.

"Here's how it works," said the woman happily. "I ask you questions, and if you get it right, you win money!"

"And if we don't get it right?" I asked fearfully.

"You don't win money," said the woman as if that were obvious.

Tabbatha and I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"Oh, but if you get three wrong before you get to your destination…"

"You drop us off and make us walk?" guessed Tabbatha.

"No," said the woman. "I eat you."

My heart stopped. Tabbatha gripped my hand.

"Sorry," she said, pulling on the door again. "We're not interested."

"Oh, I don't think you understand," said the woman. "You get into the cash cab, you play."

I slammed my head against the window angrily. Tabbatha gripped my shoulder and pulled me back.

The woman smiled back at us, and then I noticed what was different about her. She had a pretty face, but her teeth were fangs. And she had on a fur coat, which matched nicely with her lion's body. "So, where are you heading?" she asked casually.

"Umm… The yard where they drop off towed cars from here."

"Sanderson Lot," said the woman, typing it into her GPS system. "That's thirty blocks from here. Plenty of time for you to rack up plenty of money, or for…" she smiled into the rearview mirror. "Or for me to get a gourmet meal for the day. It really is rare to come across a daughter of Hera."

Tabbatha looked at me, as if blaming me for this. I held up my hands, telling her it's not my fault.

"Anyway," said the woman who I now knew was a sphinx. "Let's get going." She started up the car. "What are rocks formed out of heat from a volcano called?"

"Umm," I scratched my head.

"Okay," whispered Tabbatha, nervously tugging on my hair because hers wasn't long enough to tug on. "There are three types of rock. Sedimentary, igneous, and… umm…"

"Metamorphic," I said, swatting her hand away.

"Yeah," she said. "Metamorphic is, umm, made of pressure and heat I think.

"And… igneous is made of pressure… right?"

"No… I mean… I don't know. I thought that it was made in a volcano… I'm not sure."

"Wait maybe it is made in a volcano, but… that makes sedimentary made of… pressure?"

"Umm," Tabbatha reached for my hair again, only to be swatted away. "Yeah, that sounds right."

"Okay…" I said…

"Final answer?" asked the sphinx.

"Igneous," I said, praying to Athena for wisdom.

The woman was silent a moment. "Correct!" she exclaimed, finally.

Tabbatha and I let out a breath. _Thank you_ I thought to pretty much every Olympian I could think of.

"Next question! Who is the author of… _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_?

"Roald Dahl," I said immediately. Tabbatha looked at me. "How the Hades do you know that?"

"Because Roald Dahl is the king of all that is awesome," I said. "Duh."

Tabbatha decided not to protest. "All right, Roald Dahl," she agreed.

"Correct!" said the sphinx. "Another $25! You now have $50!" And 25 more blocks to go! Now, who is the popular football star that was recently arrested for armed robbery of a hotel room, and supposedly murdered his wife in 1995?"

Tabbatha and I looked at eachother. "I don't know," I whispered.

"And you think I do?" she asked, twisting her smiley shirt nervously. "Umm, who's a popular football star?"

"Umm, I don't know much about sports. Michael Jordan?"

"Wasn't he a basketball star?" asked Tabbatha.

"It's the best I can think of!"

"Erm… I never heard of him killing his wife."

"Do you have any better ideas?" I shook my head to get my bangs out of my face.

"No," admitted Tabbatha. She blinked, and then turned to the sphinx. "Michael Jordan?"

The sphinx was silent a moment. "Incorrect!" she chuckled. "The correct answer is O.J. Simpson!"

I slapped myself in the forehead for the third time today. "Stupid," I accused myself.

"What's the square root of 16?" asked the sphinx, turning the wheel with her mighty paw.

"Umm…" Tabbatha closed her eyes and thought for a while. "CURSE YOU MATH!" she finally shouted, beating against the window.

"10 seconds," said the sphinx.

"How do you find a square root?" I asked.

"Er… you multiply something… no you divide, and then you…"

"Final answer?" asked the sphinx. "Or would you like to call for help?"

"Call for help?" I asked.

"You can call someone on the cell phone or open the window and shout it onto the street to see if anyone knows."

Tabbatha made an "O" shape with her mouth. "We'll call for help. Cell phone please."

The sphinx tossed us back her cell phone, which I caught. "I know who to call," I said, already plugging Annabeth's number.

There were three rings, and for a scary moment, I though no one would pick up. Then, a tired voice came on. "Hello?" it asked distractedly.

"Annabeth?" I asked with the same tone.

Annabeth, on the other line, seemed to suddenly snap all of her attention on the phone. "Phoebe!!! Where the Hades are you? Are you with Tabbatha? Are you alright? Why did you leave?"

"Annabeth," I said trying to calm her down. "I can't really talk. Tabbatha and I are fine if you don't count the fact that we're about to get eaten if you can't help us out."

"What do you need?" she asked seriously.

"Er… What's the square root of 16?"

Annabeth was silent. Then she finally said, "Why do you need to know that?"

"We're kinda on the… Cash Cab Demigod Edition."

"Four."

"Four?" I asked her.

"Yeah, four. Four times four is 16. Get it?"

"Umm, yeah. Thanks Annabeth, I promise, we'll explain everything if we get back."

"If?"

I hung up the phone. "Four," I said.

"Correct!" said the sphinx, adding $50 onto our money counter. 10 blocks to go.

Tabbatha put her forehead on my shoulder, obviously having mustered up a huge headache.

"How many movies for the High School Musical series came out in theaters?" The Sphinx turned another corner, and a couple blocks ahead, I could see Tabbatha's car in a lot.

"Who would got see High School Musical in theaters?" I asked. "It has to be a trick question."

"Don't underestimate the power of Disney Tools," said Tabbatha.

"Well I don't remember hearing any Aphrodite girls talking about Zac Efron's hair like they did when the last one came out."

"Well…" Tabbatha ran her hand through her sandy hair.

"10 seconds," warned the sphinx.

"Umm…" I looked at Tabbatha. "Let's say none."

"Well, I guess I don't have any better answers." She turned to the sphinx. "None!"

"Incorrect!" cackled the sphinx, putting down a second strike. "The correct answer is one!"

Tabbatha looked at me. "We shouldn't have underestimated their power."

We were three blocks away. "Next question!" announced the sphinx. "In ancient Greek Mythology, how did Bellerophon defeat the Chimera?"

"He… shot arrows at it, I think."

"No, there was something special about the arrows, I think." I scratched my head. "He poisoned it."

"With what?" asked Tabbatha. "He used an arrow, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "Some sort of poison was on the arrow. He shot it into the thing's mouth and it melted. What melts that's poison?"

"Umm… lead does." Tabbatha was chewing on her thumbnail.

"Yeah, I think that's it. He tied lead to the arrow, shot it into the Chimera's mouth, and it died."

"Genius," said Tabbatha. She looked at the sphinx. "There's you answer."

"Correct!" said the sphinx. She pulled to the side of the lot, where Tabbatha's car sat at the door. "Alright," said the Sphinx. "You've earned $150. You can take the money now and walk away, or you can win a special prize by answering one last question. That prize is a $500 gift card to—"

Tabbatha cut her off. "No thanks, we're not interested."

"Starbucks," finished the sphinx.

Tabbatha stopped mid sentence. I could tell her mouth was watering. "Starbucks? The… the coffee place? That Starbucks?"

"The very one," said the Sphinx.

Tabbatha looked at me. "I think this could be good for us."

"No it can't be!" I said, tugging my own hair. "It'll either get us eaten, or you so hyper that you'll die anyway!"

Tabbatha looked at me, as if still waiting. "I don't see any down side to this."

"We can't," I said, pulling on my door. Still locked.

"We'll take this question," said Tabbatha.

I gave her the evil eye. "I hate you so much right now."

"Alright," said the sphinx. "Please watch the small television hooked onto the ceiling."

I looked up. A clip from an old TV show was playing. "The 1990s hit TV show, _Full House_, was lead originally by a cast of 7. Who are the original 7 actors on this show?" A clock in the corner started to count down from 60.

Tabbatha furrowed her brow. "This was a stupid idea," she said.

I looked at her angrily. "Ya think?"

"Okay…" said Tabbatha. "Umm… Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen… Jodie Sweetin…"

"Bob Sagat…" I said. "Candace Cameron…"

"David Couler…" Tabbath looked at me. The clock red 15 seconds. "Who's the last one.

I put my head in my hands. "John… something. John… Smith?"

The buzzer went off, signaling we were out of time. "I'm sorry," said the Sphinx. "That is incorrect." She got up from her drivers seat, bearing her teeth. "Now my only problem is which one of you to eat first?"

I reached into my pocket and felt the keys. Slowly… very slowly…. I pulled it out of my pocket. "What's that, half-blood?" asked the Sphinx. "A flashlight?"

"No," I said, pressing the button. It elongated into a sword. "Tabbatha," I said, not taking my eyes from the sphinx. "Get out. I'll hold it off."

Tabbatha hesitated, but not for long. The sphinx jumped at me, her claws sharper than a child of Athena. I kicked her in the face, but she barely flinched. "Don't fight, Half-blood. Just give up."

I stabbed forward with my sword. "Why don't you?" I asked, cutting off some of her hair.

She roared. "Fine, I will devour you the slow and painful way." She bit my arm with one of he non-fang incisors.

I shrieked and jerked my arm back Tabbatha kicked out a window and flew out. I couldn't follow her, because I'd need to take my guard down to do that. Instead, I jabbed my sword upward through the roof, trying to cut a hole out.

Bad idea. The sphinx delivered a blow to my stomach. I brought my sword back out and stabbed the monster in the chest. It shrieked, and began to disintegrate. For good measure, I hit it with the hilt of my sword in the nose, sending it toppling down into the drivers seat. Then it was gone.

"Yes!" I said, sticking my sword in the air, which was a really stupid idea. I hit the TV and it burst into flames. "Uh oh." The fire sparks caught on the upholstery. The car was burning, and the gas tank… Suddenly I screamed. A pair of mighty hands grabbed me and hauled me out of the car, and then whoever it was went jogging into the lot and ducked behind a car just as the Cash Cab's gas tank blew up.

"Crap," I muttered, looking around wildly. "Where's Tabbatha?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Tabbatha- SCARY!!!!!!!!!**

**Phoebe- Cliffhanger!!! Now everyone probably hates us!**

**Tabbatha- You bet!**

**Phoebe- Sorry we took so long to update…**

**Tabbatha- Yeah, school's been taking up our time with the homework… tests… teachers turning into monsters…**

**Phoebe- Happened to me twice this year.**

**Tabbatha- Three times for me.**

**Phoebe- Anyway… Please review. If you don't review your Porsche will get towed.**

**Tabbatha- Courtesy of Artemis.**

**Phoebe- So, you know what to do! Press that pretty little button on the bottom of the screen.**

**Tabbatha- Thanks for reading!**


	10. My Hobo Brother Fixes Tabbatha's Car

"Pssh, You're welcome," grumbled a sarcastic voice behind me.

I turned, suddenly realizing that maybe I should be a little curious about who just pulled my sorry butt out of an exploding car. I jumped back three feet when I saw who it was. Well, really, more like what it was.

Facing me was an 8 foot 4 hobo with an easy going looking 4 o'clock shadow and a fake leg. "Who are you?" I asked, tightening my grip around the small key ring.

The man looked hurt. "Phoebe, don't you see the family resemblance?"

I was about to say, "Nope," and run for my life, but something stopped me. His raven black hair and innocent calf-brown eyes made me furrow my brow and be glad that this wasn't one of the Cash Cab questions. "Umm… Hera is… related to you…?"

"Like… My mom?" he said, pushing his greasy black hair out of his eyes.

I heaved a heavy sigh. "You gods just keep on coming one after another." I pressed my palm to my forehead. "Hephaestus?"

The hobo laughed like Santa Clause. "Now you're catching on."

Then I remembered something that made me inwardly slap my ADHD for getting off-topic. "We gotta find Tabbatha," I said, looking around the junkyard.

I saw our car, which looked as if it had been flipped over on its journey here. "Ooh, crap," I muttered, staring at our only source of transportation.

Then I thought about Tabbatha again, and pushed the car to the back of my mind. I looked around the rest of the yard. Parts of the Cash Cab were scattered all over the place. "Hephaestus, where could she be?"

"Probably under some of these parts," he said, lifting a muffler off the ground. The second he picked it up, the rust melted off of it and it looked brand-new.

"Which parts?" I asked, running over and picking up a heavy hunk of metal. No Tabbatha.

"That's a question for Athena," he said, pushing aside a row of tires.

I maneuvered past a hunk of rust that cavemen probably used to drive and saw the entire roof of the cash cab. I had trouble believing that the whole thing had blown off in one piece, but here it was.

"Marco," I called, climbing onto the roof.

"Polo," coughed a faint voice somewhere near.

A fire of newfound strength burned within me. "Marco," I called, a little louder. Hephaestus looked at me like I was crazy.

"Polo!" coughed the voice again. It cracked.

"Marco!" I shouted, pacing up and down the roof like I was trying to get better reception.

"Polo!" Shouted the voice, sounding annoyed this time.

"MARCO!!" I called, jumping up and down.

"I'm right here, you idiot!" shouted Tabbatha's voice from the roof beneath me. A fist knocked on it from the other side.

By now, Hephaestus was by my side. "Come on," he said, grabbing hold of the roof. I grabbed the other side to try to help, but he didn't need it. Heck, this guy could've one an arm wrestling match with Bigfoot.

Tabbatha looked terrible. There was a cut on her forehead that was dangerously close to her eye, her blonde hair was streaked with blood, her legs showed more blood than they did skin, and she looked like she was going to puke on top of everything else, but she still had that same proud, Tabbatha expression. She gave me a look that asked, "Who's the hobo?"

"Hephaestus," I mouthed while he was brushing iron scraps out of Tabbatha's hair.

"You okay, kid?" he asked, clearing the area. I guess Hephaestus was a pretty protective big brother, but, then again, he had never had a little sister before. It made me wonder why he was doing all of this for me. I mean, we were just related.

Tabbatha blinked a few times. "Yes, sir," she said.

"Then will you be able to handle the news?" he asked, sitting back on his heels.

"What news?" asked Tabbatha, trying to prop on her elbows, but, after many failed attempts, giving up and laying back onto the dirt and metal.

Hephaestus looked down and cleared his throat, stalling time. "Your, umm… your car is totaled."

Tabbatha seemed not to register that at first. Her expression went blank and she didn't move… for a few seconds. Then she screamed and flashed up to a standing position. She only fell on her knees once as she ran towards her car.

"Nothing gets a girl up like her car getting crushed," I said to Hephaestus, watching her run.

Hephaestus nodded, and we jogged after her. We found her kneeling by her car with her palms on the handle. "He was a good fellow," she said. "He was kind and true, and loyal to his owner.

"Tabbatha," I said, rolling my eyes. "I think you put a little too much drama in your cereal this morning.

"Shh," said Tabbatha, holding up one of her cut fingers. "I'm mourning for the loss of my car."

Hephaestus crossed his arms. "Hi," he said, waving his hand. "I'm Hephaestus, the god of _metalworking_ and such."

Tabbatha, not picking up Hephaestus's emphasis on metalworking, nodded in his direction, than turned back to her car. "WHY MUST THE GOOD DIE YOUNG!?"

I took a deep breath and picked up a long pole, getting ready to ram Tabbatha for being so stupid, but Hephaestus stopped me. "I can fix your car," he offered, putting it right out there for her.

She looked at him, her evil Hermes eyes looking big and innocent. "Really?"

"Yeah…" said Hephaestus slowly. He trotted to the front of the car, looking confident. It was pretty obvious that this was his home turf. He looked under the hood. "Your rudder is shot and you need a new muffler." **(A/N: Tabbatha- We have no idea what that means, but it sounds good, right? Phoebe- We don't exactly know how a car works, so please, don't flame us if you're some kinda car genius.)**

Tabbatha and I stared at him. He sighed. "I'll have it done in about two hours."

Tabbatha and I nodded. "Thanks, Hephaestus," I said, giving him an awkward hug.

Hephaestus chuckled like Santa Clause. "It's nothing, really, sis. It's just my job."

I smiled, and walked back to Tabbatha while Hephaestus went off to collect parts. I sat down next to her and we were silent or a moment. Then she attacked me with a bear hug.

"I was so worried about you," she said, hugging me tighter.

"Tabbatha," I said, squirming. "My internal organs need to stay in place, thank you very much."

Tabbatha grinned. "How'd you kill that thing?" she asked, pulling back and grabbing my wrists.

"Sword," I said briefly, trying to brush away that topic. "How'd you avoid the explosion?"

"Running in circles and screaming," she said, smiling.

I smiled, but barely. I was really tired. "Three things that have tried to kill us on the first day," I said, resting my head on Tabbatha's shoulder.

Tabbatha nodded, laying back in the dirt. I followed her, , resting my head on a delightfully soft pile of mud. I watched the sun sink below the horizon and the moon rising, followed by all of the stars.

"First day of this quest is completed," I noted.

Tabbatha didn't respond. I turned my head to find her sleeping. Slowly, I closed my eyes, not knowing if we would survive the night. But right now, that didn't matter to me. Not as long as Tabbatha and I were in this together. Nothing would ever keep us apart.

But I knew, then and there, that that was too big of a promise for anyone to keep. Especially me.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Phoebe- And so the lesson in this chapter was…**

**Tabbatha- Never trust a hobo with your wallet?**

**Phoebe- No… Was it?**

**Tabbatha- Yeah, after you fell asleep, I had gotten up to… umm… anyway, Hephaestus asked to borrow 20 bucks.**

**Phoebe- And…?**

**Tabbatha- And I asked if he had change for a 50, and he said "Nope," and took it. True story.**

**Phoebe- Right… well, anyway, thanks for reading.**

**Tabbatha- We really appreciate.**

**Phoebe- All reviews will find their very own Porsche in their stocking this Christmas.**

**Tabbatha- True Story.**

**Phoebe- And if you don't review, you will find a book under your tree called "The History of Boring Things"**

**Tabbatha- Written by Miley Cyrus**

**Phoebe- So do what you must to save your holiday season. (Stares at Camera until image fades.)**


End file.
